KERKORIAN, UNIONS AGREE ON BUYOUT PLAN FOR TWA

Unions at Trans World Airlines Inc. and representatives of investor Kirk Kerkorian Friday agreed on a three-year plan that paves the way for Kerkorian to make a buyout bid for the troubled airline.

Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. holding company will make an unspecified offer to TWA Chairman Carl Icahn, the airline's owner since 1986."What he (Icahn) will get is determined by Mr. Kerkorian," said Bill Compton, chief negotiator for the TWA branch of the Air Line Pilots Association. "We're concerned about how much money comes into TWA, not how much goes to Mr. Icahn."

Tracinda promised to invest $250 million in a restructured company in exchange for $137 million a year in concessions by the airline's pilots, flight attendants and machinists, a machinists' union spokesman said.

The unions would own up to 33 percent of the airline and Tracinda the remainder. However, the groups would surrender part of their stakes as equity to satisfy TWA's creditors.